Monday, March 27, 2017

The European EV market
had over 16.000 registrations last month, up 20% over February 2016, with
YTD numbers up 38% YoY, the market is set to surpass the 300.000 units (310k?) by
year end, while the EV share is firmly north of the 1% mark, this growth is in
no small part due to a refreshed BEV, that has just got a 40 kWh battery...

Looking at the Monthly Models Ranking:

#1 Renault Zoe – After a few months delay
on the delivery of the new battery, the French hatch deliveries skyrocketed since
December, and February was no exception, with registrations up 74% YoY to 2.828 units. With sales in its domestic
market and Norway in full swing, it was the performance in Germany (431 units)
that surprised, delivering its best result in over a year.

#2 BMW i3 – Proving that there’s no replacement
for range when it comes to BEVs, the BMW hot hatch is up 85% YoY in Europe, all
thanks to the 33 kWh battery kick, with sales in February reaching 1.455 units, with an interesting twist:
While in the past, the extended range version outsold the pure electric one,
the new battery significantly changed the mix, last month the BEV version
represented 78% of all i3 deliveries…

#3 Nissan Leaf – If recently upgraded EV’s
are stealing the headlines, the fact is that the daddy of them all is still around and had another good sales month
in February, by registering 1.327 units.
With sales up 5% this year, the Nissan model is here to stay, with good numbers
in many markets, namely Norway (408 units), France (277) or Germany (117).

#4 Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV – After a
tight race with the VW Passat GTE, the Japanese SUV won the Fourth Place, with 1.130 units, becoming also the Best-Selling
PHEV in February. Once ruler of the European market, its sales have been
slipping for a long time (Down another 12% last month), and although registering
positive results in a couple of markets, like the 164 units in Germany,
Mitsubishi hasn’t found a way to stop the bleeding, no doubt derived from an
increasingly larger number of competitors and cuts in PHEV benefits in some
countries.

#5 VW Passat GTE – The Volkswagen midsize
offering continues to be a frequent presence here, this time reaching the Fifth
Place, with 1.070 units. With the
all-important Estate version profiting from almost non-existent competition,
the Passat GTE has a big following in Norway and Sweden, performing 48% of its
sales in those two Scandinavian countries. Now imagine how many sales Volvo is
losing by not offering a PHEV version of its V90 estate…

Mercedes GLC350e: Climbing in the ranking

YTD Ranking – Renault Zoe leads, Mercedes GLC350e Shines

Looking at the YTD
ranking, the Top 5 positions remained the same, with the Outlander PHEV
recovering a little (60 units) on the distance over the #4 Passat GTE.

Below the first
positions, several changes occurred, with the Tesla Model S (829 units, up 48%
YoY) climbing one position to Sixth, the Mercedes GLC350e jumping two positions
to #8, all while breaking again its personal best, with 725 deliveries (Will we
see it reach four digits in March?), in the meantime, its car-related sibling,
the C350e, was down to #10, due to a slow month of 432 registrations, its worst
result in 16 months. I wonder where these sales have gone to…

Elsewhere, the BMW
330e rose one position to #11, while the Kia Soul EV jumped three places to
#12.

On the losers
side, we have two recently arrived models, with the Hyundai Ioniq Electric (145
units, worst result in four months), down three positions to #17, while the
Tesla Model X dropped two positions to #13, with half the numbers of its Model
S sibling.

With reservation
deliveries now out of the way, it seems the new Tesla isn’t so much in demand
as its older brother, with the SUV only frankly outselling its older brother in
three countries (Norway, Switzerland and Luxembourg).

Looking at the manufacturers
ranking, the trophy bearer BMW (19%, down 2%) is leading the way, but hot on
the heels of the Zoe success, the Second Placed Renault (16%, up 1%) is approaching,
while the Third Placed Volkswagen (12%) is keeping at a safe margin Mercedes
and Nissan, both with 10% share.

Friday, March 24, 2017

February continued with the positive trend in Belgium, with 753 passenger cars wearing a Plug being registered, up 17% YoY, pulling the EV Share at 1.8%.

SUV's continue to be the Trend du Jour, with Belgians confirming their love for German brands and SUV's, the Mercedes GLC350e won for the first time in February the Best Seller of the Month award, with a record 117 units, while climbing to Second Place in the YTD ranking, thus displacing the BMW X5 to the lowest position in the podium.

But is wasn't all bad news for the Bavarian automaker, both the BMW i3 and 225xe Atc. Tourer climbed one position, at the expense of the Audi Q7 e-Tron (26 sales, worst performance in six months), that dropped four positions to #9.

Looking elsewhere, the ageing Nissan Leaf registered 45 units, its best result in nine months, which proves once again the resilience on the Japanese model, allowing it to climb to positions, to #10, last month.

In the manufacturers ranking, last year leader BMW is firm in the leadership, with 37% (Up 3%), while Mercedes (18%, up 2%) benefited from the popularity of its midsize SUV and surpassed Volvo (16%, down 4%) in the race for Second Place.